Alyson's Broccoli Salad

I have been making this for years, using slightly different amounts of the ingredients. (4 cups broccoli, 1 cup raisins, 1 cup sunflower seeds, 1/2 cup sweet red onion & 8 slices bacon for the salad. For the dressing: 1 cup mayo, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 T. vinegar) My suggestion to those who say the broccoli is too "crunchy": I always mix up all of the salad ingredients the night before I serve this. The bacon "softens" the broccoli. I mix up the dressing ingredients separately, in another bowl, and add a couple of hours before serving to let the flavors blend. And I suggest using "real bacon", but I know we're all busy people. Always delicious...have had so many requests for this salad people pay me to make it for graduations, weddings, etc.

You have to use red grapes instead of raisins. Cut the grapes in half and add to the salad. My mom has been serving this recipe in her tea house for years and always get tons of requests for it. Everywhere I bring it to I have to hand out the recipe. Please use fresh grapes though it makes all the difference in the world.

What defines taste for this recipe? What can you substitute for what? 1. Keep red onion. Do not substitute it. 2. Keep bacon. You can use more bacon then requested, still be fine. 3. Raisins. I like Jumbo White raisins. Please do not use those little brown once. You need sweet-sour taste. So as previous reviewers said: you can use red grapes, halved; you can use craizins. Sweet-n-Sour! 4. Sunflower seeds or roasted almonds - doesn't matter. They both taste good in this salad. Add them before serving, so they retain cranchinnes. 5. And dressing. For dressing you can substitute Real Mayo for Light or for extra Light or for Sour Cream+Mustard+LemonJuice+Salt. Really does not make any difference. You can substitute sugar for Splenda. You can use Red Wine Vinegar. The taste should be sweet-salty and a little sour. What important is the amount. If you use too little - it'll be too dry. If you use to much - it'll be soup. Add the dressing gradually. Remember that after a night in refrigirator it is going to absorb some fluid. Now - if you do substitutions for Mayo, make sure this thing has salt in it, because if not and you use raisins... they will become grapes again :-), and sometime quite huge grapes.